These grain stores now open late and close early, limiting their sales to a dozen stone of grain a day, and will not sell any more than twenty stone at most.
The price of grain changes every day, how can we bear to sell it all at once?
Even if there is food, you have to say you don’t have it.
The warehouse is full, but it can also be said to be empty.
Although Wang came from a prominent family and was the wife of the county magistrate, most people could not afford to offend her.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, she wanted to buy a large quantity of food and gave her a low price. Isn't this cutting off her source of income?
Who can agree to such a thing?
However, if he didn't agree, he was afraid of offending the county magistrate.
Since ancient times, the people have not fought against the officials.
As the saying goes, a county magistrate ruins a family, and a prefecture official wipes out an entire clan.
Merchants who run a grain shop may address you as Master or Madam, Young Master or Young Madam respectfully for the sake of money, but you should not take it seriously.
Relying on one or two businesses and some money at home, he became extremely bold and challenged the county magistrate's wife.
If you are so ignorant, you will bring disaster to your family sooner or later!
The faces of the women from the grain store grew increasingly grim. For a moment, no one spoke, and the atmosphere in the room grew quite heavy. Gradually, an inextricable awkwardness began to settle in the air.
The smile on the face of the county magistrate's wife, Mrs. Wang, also faded.
She picked up the teacup, took a sip, and put it on the table with a "pa" sound.
"Who made this tea? It's already lukewarm, and they didn't even bother changing it! How come the tea is cold before this person even leaves?"
When the women of several grain merchants heard this, they couldn't help but tremble.
Immediately, a senior maid knelt down and apologized:
"It's my turn to be on duty today. Madam, please forgive me, I will replace this cold tea right away!"
Xia Daohua secretly picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. The temperature of the tea was quite palatable... It seemed that the words of the county magistrate's wife, Mrs. Wang, were indeed meaningful!
Looking at the women from the grain shops, their expressions could no longer be described as ashen.
At this time, Mrs. Dong, the young lady of Chenji Grain Store, gritted her teeth and spoke:
"My wife wants to buy food, so I shouldn't refuse. But even a good cook can't cook without rice!
The ship our master sent out to buy food hasn't returned with any news for two months.
The last message sent before said that they encountered pirates on the river. The person in charge originally planned to settle the matter peacefully and give the pirates some silver as a bribe.
But there has been no news since then, and I don’t know if he is okay.
Now, our storehouse has sold out of food. The master is so worried that he sighs and can't sleep every night. His hair has turned white.
It’s not that my Chenji Grain Store is unwilling to help, it’s just that we are powerless!
I hope my wife will understand."
Mrs. Dong is petite and gentle. She speaks in a low voice and is quite timid.
But she did the boldest thing among this group of women - she rejected Wang.
Although it was very tactful and although sufficient reasons were given.
But a refusal is a refusal.
Wang smiled and said nothing.
Crystal clear beads of sweat oozed out of Dong's forehead and the tip of her nose, and tears welled up in her eyes.
But she tried hard to hold back her tears.
She was also afraid of offending Wang, but she had to say these words. What if she agreed to it here and there, she would not be able to explain to the old man when she returned home.
Although her husband was also a legitimate son, he was neither the eldest nor the youngest, and he was not very favored. To be honest, she had two illegitimate brothers, both of whom were more favored than her husband.
If there was someone else at Chen Ji's place at this time, she would have been so happy that she would not have said a word.
But the old lady was not feeling well today and did not come to the party. My sister-in-law went back to her parents' home yesterday, and my sister-in-law went out to play with her sisters early in the morning.
Therefore, she was the only one who was forced to attend this Hongmen Banquet.
Although refusing is not necessarily the best option, she might even end up having to eat a head of rice when she gets home... But in any case, it is much better than her blindly agreeing to it.
Wang looked at Dong for a moment, then turned her gaze away to look at the other women from the grain shop. "What about you? Did your grain ships get robbed by pirates?"
Liu, a female member of Zhang's Grain Store, said with a smile:
"How could that be! Madam is such a joker!
Our Zhangji Grain Store is not as wealthy as Chenji's, which can send grain ships to Jiangnan to purchase grain.
We are a small family and we just collect some food here and there from the surrounding villages and towns.
But these days, farmers have to pay summer taxes.
The harvest was not good this year, and it started raining before the wheat was even harvested. The little grain they harvested wasn't even enough to pay the summer taxes, so how could they have any extra to sell to us?
With Dong and Liu taking the lead, the women from several other grain stores also began to complain.
In fact, these grain stores all have a lot of land at home.
In addition to purchasing from Jiangnan by water and from farmers around Jixiang County, they also have other sources of goods.
They are now unwilling to sell grain to the Wang family, just wanting to hoard it.
Of course, Dong had no such intention.
She just didn't dare to take the responsibility of being the second in command.
If she agreed, and then the old man of the family refused, it would really offend Wang and County Magistrate Yang.
She refused first, and later if Wang and County Magistrate Yang were really not easy to deal with, the head of the family could come forward and apologize in person.
Anyway, as long as we can put the blame on her young age, ignorance, and careless talk, even if it doesn't completely affect the relationship between Chen Ji and the county magistrate, there is at least a lot of room for repair and redemption.
Chenji, Zhangji, Songji and Wuji, these four grain stores almost controlled the entire grain business in Jixiang County.
They naturally competed with each other on a daily basis, but when facing County Magistrate Yang and his wife, Mrs. Wang, they were unprecedentedly unanimous - since your family raised the prices, my family can follow suit, and who would be willing to go against the money?
The women from several families sang in unison, talking and laughing, and they all insisted on saying that they had no food to sell for various reasons.
Wang held the lid of the tea bowl and gently spread the tea leaves, one by one, thinking about something.
These grain stores clearly don't want to cooperate.
But since Yang Lang is determined to be a wise and capable minister, I can't hold him back.
Naturally, those methods that are not decent cannot be used.
The victims’ stomachs are of paramount importance.
If they don't have enough to eat, whether people starve to death or they can't stand the hunger and start trouble, robbing grain stores or county granaries, it will probably be difficult to resolve the issue peacefully.
Not only will it leave a stain on Yang Lang's resume, but most importantly, it will hurt Yang Lang's heart.
But since the grain store refuses to cooperate, where will the grain come from?
She could transfer food from the Wang family, but distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－
Not today. See you tomorrow. Good night, sweet dreams.
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